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New Derry-Dublin flight times cause uproar  10.06.08

Trouble in the air for Inishowen commuters

INISHOWEN commuters who fly regularly from Derry to Dublin for business say a new Aer Arann timetable will seriously affect their schedules.
Aer Arann has been awarded the new tender to operate the heavily-subsidised service between City of Derry Airport and Dublin Airport.
The Irish airline won the Public Service Obligation (PSO) contract this year and will take over from current operator Loganair in late July.
The problem for local flyers is that Aer Arann will fly out of Derry an hour later in the morning than Loganair.
Buncrana-based Alison McBride who is service manager with Ulster Bank, uses the Derry to Dublin service every week along with at least ten other regular commuters from Inishowen.
Their current flight time from Derry is 7.40am but Aer Arann will not fly out until 8.40am.
"This is causing uproar among the regulars. Flying out of Derry an hour later will seriously disrupt people's shedules. We won't land in Dublin until around 9.30am which realistically means you won't reach your destination until at least 11am not to mention what will happen if there are any delays," she said.
Alison McBride
"We'll have to consider either flying down a day earlier or driving, if these new times aren't sorted out," she said.
An Aer Arann spokesperson said the main problem lay with the fact that the Loganair plane was based at City of Derry Airport while the Aer Arann plane will be based at Dublin Airport.
"We're bound by the landing slots available to us at Dublin Airport. We applied for an earlier slot but couldn't get it," said the spokesperson, who added that the company would continue to press for an earlier time slot.
Meanwhile, Senator Cecilia Keaveney is among a number of local politicians who have been lobbied by concerned commuters about the flight time change. While she welcomed the fact that the Aer Arann plane will be bigger with the capacity to carry 48 passengers, she has been in touch with Aer Arann and Transport Minister Noel Dempsey in a bid to retain the earlier time slot.
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